A routine flight turned into a near-tragedy when a private plane crashed just short of a residential area in New Hampshire on Tuesday.
The aircraft, piloted by longtime aviator Dave Lennon, went down in a wooded area off Reddington Landing, narrowly avoiding a house before coming to a rest among the trees. Astonishingly, Lennon walked away unscathed.
“I knew about half a second before I crashed that I couldn’t recover it,” Lennon told NBC10 Boston. “I just tried to stay with it 100%, and I’m just fortunate that I didn’t hit anything else and I walked out without a scratch, basically.”
A Close Call Caught on Camera
The harrowing moment was captured on a home security camera belonging to local resident Chris Martin. The footage shows the shadow of the aircraft darting over his home before disappearing into the woods across the street.
“Pretty scary to know that you live next to an airport and see something like this,” Martin told WCVB5. “It could’ve ended a lot worse.”
Lennon, an experienced pilot who has flown in and out of Hampton Airfield for decades, was flying solo at the time of the accident. He has owned the aircraft for 30 years and was attempting to land when things took a dangerous turn.
“I was shooting for the end of the runway, and I just obviously didn’t make it,” Lennon explained. “It was closer to the houses than I thought.”
Emergency Response and Investigation
First responders rushed to the scene, unsure of what they would find. Hampton Deputy Fire Chief Nathan Denio confirmed that when emergency crews arrived, Lennon had already exited the aircraft on his own.
“We were dispatched to a small aircraft that had crashed into a wooded area off of Reddington Landing,” Denio told PEOPLE. “When we arrived on scene, there was a single plane on the ground amongst some trees. The pilot was walking about, so he self-extracted from the plane. He was uninjured.”
EMTs on-site examined Lennon, but he declined transportation to the hospital. Meanwhile, the Hampton Fire Department worked to secure the aircraft, ensuring there were no fuel leaks or fire hazards before dismantling the wreckage the following day. The plane’s wings were removed, and the body was transported away on a flatbed truck.
FAA Launches Investigation
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) arrived at the scene and has since begun an official investigation into what caused the crash. The agency confirmed Tuesday evening that they are still in the “early stages” of the inquiry.
This latest crash comes amid a string of aviation accidents across the U.S. In late January, American Airlines Flight 5342 collided with a Black Hawk helicopter over Washington, D.C., resulting in the deaths of 67 people. While Lennon’s crash had a much different outcome, it serves as a stark reminder of how quickly air travel can turn dangerous—even for the most experienced pilots.
For now, Lennon says he’s just grateful to be alive. “I’ve been flying for years,” he reflected. “I never expected to walk away from a crash like this.”